The Internet provides various opportunities for individuals to discuss subjects that interest them. For example, users may participate in message boards, maintain a blog, comment on various webpages (e.g., Facebook™ “walls,” Youtube™ comments, etc.), or participate in a real-time messaging service such as Twitter™. A user who is interested in comments made by others on a particular topic can use these technologies to stay up to date on the latest discussions.
In some cases, users will include information such as hashtags in their comments to help other users identify the topic or topics that are being discussed. Thus, other users who are interested in a particular topic can search for comments that include the hashtag to find out more about the topic. Likewise, users can include web links that are associated with a particular topic in their comments. However, often the number of comments that reference a particular hashtag or web link can grow quite large. Due to the large number of comments, it may be relatively burdensome for the user to understand the major points of discussion associated with a particular hashtag or web link.